Discovering The History Of My Great Grandfather

[Conquistidor]

Hello, I have recently been very interested in tracing the history of my Great Grandfather ever since finding his Victory medal at my Grandmothers house. So far I have only managed to find him on the SWB list and also his medal card. I would really like to be able to present something to my Grandmother about the history of her father as she knew very little about him as he passed away when she was 7. His name was Harold Peck, Corporal in the 302nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery. I believe his Birth date was May 1888 and he died in 1933 however they could be out by a year as I have worked them out by things I have been told.

Here is the information I have so far:

(By the way, what does '-do-' mean on the SWB list?)

Can anyone find anymore information on him or have I recovered all the information possible on him?

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Will

[Sandie Hayes]

(By the way, what does '-do-' mean on the SWB list?)

It means the same as the entry above. In this case 'sickness'.

[Coldstreamer]

ditto

[sotonmate]

The Long Long Trail,at top left of this page gives some good information:

302 Brigade RFA,previously called 2/7 London Brigade RFA,was part of 60 Division,page here:

http://www.1914-1918.net/60div.htm

You will see that the Division was ready to go to war in June 1916 and landed in France then. By November 1916 they were ordered to move to Salonika and by Christmas were in position there. Later moved to Egypt and Palestine.

The above page will show the general actions of the Division. If you want more specifics for 302 Brigade RFA you will have to seek out it's War Diary which will be filed at the National Archives,Kew.There are three Diaries which might interest you:

WO95/3027 covering the time in France 1916.

WO95/4927 covering the time in Salonika,1916-17,and,

WO95/4633 covering the time in Egypt and Palestine 1917-1919.

I see that your soldier was discharged to sickness in 1919. I have read that there were more casualties to sickness in Salonika than caused by actions of war.

[Conquistidor]

Thank you so much Sotonmate it is gratefully appreciated. Was the 302 Brigade RFA broken down into smaller units or did it just operate as a whole? From what I have been told by my Grandmother was that he was in the Cavalry. I will have to take a trip down to Kew in the coming weeks.

[sotonmate]

RFA Brigades were made up of three Batteries,of three guns each ,I have read. The "cavalry" connection may have been that your subject used a horse to assist movement of his Gun. The other thing I meant to mention is that his short number 2495 might suggest a pre-war service,perhaps in a part-time capacity.

[Conquistidor]

Thank you again, from the information I currently have is it possible to find out which Battery he was in?

[sotonmate]

The Long Long Trail gives Batteries to Brigades mostly as far as Regular units are concerned but I note that 302,being a Territorial Force unit,doesn't show this detail. I have listed the War Diaries above. You can look there if and when you get to Kew as sometimes there are names to Batteries and sometime a Battery has it's own War Diary, if it has split off from the Brigade for other tasks,which is consolidated into the main Diary.

Let me know by personal message (click on my name at left of screen and then click on send me a message box mid right upper)here if you can't get to Kew this month and I will see if I can find his name when I go next.

[PFF]

302nd RFA in listing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Expeditionary_Force

[Conquistidor]

Thank you Sotonmate and PFF, I really hope to be able to get up to Kew this month however it slightly depends on whether I can get the time off.(If not I will send you a PM)

As soon as you mentioned Palestine it rang a bell some where so I had a quick look through his school atlas(dated 1902) and found this:

I also had a quick look again at Ancestry's SWB list and found a tiny bit more information.

Name: Harold Peck

Discharge Unit: 302nd Bde RFA Regiment

Number: 961513 Rank: Sig/Cpl.

Badge Number: 459239

Unit: Royal Horse; Field Artillery (Charlton; Woolwich)

Piece: 2979

List Number: RA 3901-4200

Record Group: WO

Record Class: 329

When it mentions "Royal Horse; Field Artillery" what does it mean? Is it indicating that he was in two regiments?

[sotonmate]

No,the title for the Woolwich Base was Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery,a MIC would show which element he served,if the unit was RHA that is what was entered ,if it was RFA,as was 302 Brigade,that was shown.

The London Division,as far as your man was concerned,was 60 Division,though there was more than one London,and I guess the card was used by all entitled units.